This week in Huskie athletics, NIU has eight teams in action. Men’s basketball will have their home finale on Tuesday night against CMU. The Huskies will then travel to take on Buffalo to close out the regular season on Friday night. Women’s basketball will be away from home against Miami on Wednesday and WMU on Saturday. Wrestling will compete at the MAC Championships hosted by Kent State on Friday and Saturday. Gymnastics hosts their senior day meet on Sunday afternoon in a MAC meet against Ball State. Baseball travels to take on Ohio as they open up MAC play this weekend. Softball travels for a weekend tournament in Missoula, Montana where the Huskies will take on Montana and Holy Cross. Men’s tennis travels for a pair of conference duals and women’s tennis is home for three duals on Friday and Saturday.
Men’s Basketball
Tuesday, March 5: vs CMU, 7 p.m. – ESPN+ | Listen | Live Stats
Friday, March 8: at Buffalo, 6 p.m. – ESPN+ | Listen | Live Stats
The Huskie men’s basketball team closes the 2023-24 season this week as NIU hosts Central Michigan on Tuesday, followed by a road trip to Buffalo on Friday. David Coit was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 31.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game last week in a split against Toledo and Akron. Coit also passed the 1,000-career point mark against the Zips, becoming the 33rd player in NIU men’s basketball history to reach that milestone. A full preview of both games will be available on NIUHuskies.com.
Women’s Basketball
Wednesday, March 6: at Miami, 6 p.m. – ESPN+ | Listen | Live Stats
Saturday, March 9: at Western Michigan, 12 p.m. – ESPN+ | Listen | Live Stats
The Northern Illinois University women’s basketball team wraps up the regular season with two road games this week. The Huskies travel to Oxford, Ohio for a matchup with Miami on Wednesday night. NIU then travels to take on WMU to close out their regular season at 12 p.m. on Saturday. The Huskies are currently in eighth place in the MAC and will look to secure a spot in the MAC Tournament.
Jayden Marable is leading the Huskies in scoring and assists with 11.6 points and 4.21 assists per game. Brooke Stonebraker is scoring 11.4 and grabbing 9.1 rebounds per game. A full preview of both games will be available on NIUHuskies.com.
Wrestling
Friday, March 8 – Saturday, March 9: MAC Championships – ESPN+ | Tournament Central
The Northern Illinois University Huskie wrestling program hits the road for the 2024 Mid-American Conference Championships, March 8-9 in Kent, Ohio. The Huskies, who finished the season with a 13-2, 7-1 MAC record, won the MAC West division on February 23 as they defeated SIUE. With that win, the Huskies completed their first undefeated season at home in 43 years. Several Huskies are receiving national recognition in the rankings as the Huskies are ranked No. 12 in the NWCA Mid-Major Poll and receiving votes in the NWCA National Poll.
Gymnastics
Sunday, March 10: vs Ball State, 2 p.m. – ESPN+
Coming off of a quad-meet at NC State on Saturday where Kiera O’Shea brought home the vault title NIU returns home for their final home meet against Ball State. NIU put up a score of 195.200 at Saturday’s meet. Alyssa Al-Ashari scored a 9.850 on beam which was good for a tie for fourth place in the quad-meet. Olivia Lynd and Isabella Sissi scored 9.750 on the beam as well.
The Huskies have scored over 195 in their last two meets. After this Saturday’s home finale, the Huskies will close the regular season at Minnesota.
Baseball
Friday, March 8 – Sunday, March 10 at Ohio
Friday, March 8: at Ohio, 2 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Saturday, March 8: at Ohio, 1 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Sunday, March 10: at Ohio, 12 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
The NIU baseball team begins Mid-American Conference play this weekend at Ohio. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Huskies took one game out of four at Cincinnati last weekend, winning last Saturday 6-4. Freshman pitcher Ty Brachbill earned his second straight win on the mound, allowing two unearned runs in five innings. Colin Summerhill launched three home runs in the series. He leads the MAC with seven home runs and 21 RBI through the first three weeks of the season. He is third in the nation in home runs and fifth in RBI. Ohio is 3-6 on the season after taking a game from UIC this past weekend. The Bobcats took two out of three games against NIU in last season’s series at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt & Janice Owens Park.
Softball
Friday, March 8: vs Holy Cross, 11 a.m. – Live Stats
Friday, March 8: at Montana, 1:30 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Saturday, March 9: vs Holy Cross, 1 p.m. – Live Stats
Saturday, March 9: at Montana, 3:30 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Sunday, March 10: at Montana, 12 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
The Northern Illinois University Huskie softball program (4-10) looks to complete the early season tournament schedule as they travel to Missoula, Montana for a three-day tournament. The Huskies will face Montana and Holy Cross, March 8-10. Senior infielder Caitlyn Shumaker moved into the No. 4 spot on the all-time career stolen bases record with a stolen base at the Western Kentucky tournament. Shumaker needs six stolen bases to take the record, which was set in 2000.
Men’s tennis
Friday, March 8: at Ball State, 12 p.m.
Sunday, March 10: at WMU, 12 p.m.
NIU Men’s tennis has won eight straight duals and looks to continue the win streak as they open MAC play this weekend. NIU will travel to take on Ball State on Friday and Western Michigan on Saturday. Last weekend the Huskies defeated Southern 7-0 and Omaha 4-1 at home.
Cheng En Tsai is 8-2 overall this season and 7-2 when competing at No. 1 singles. Saul Berdullas is 10-2 overall in singles play this season.
Women’s Tennis
Friday, March 8: vs Lewis, 11 a.m. – Watch
Saturday, March 9: vs EIU, 9 a.m. – Watch
Saturday, March 9: vs St. Thomas, 3 p.m. – Watch
The NIU women’s tennis team plays three matches in the Nelson Tennis Center this weekend to close out its 2024 non-conference schedule. The Huskies, who have won five of their last six matches to improve to 8-5 on the season, take on Lewis on Friday and play both Eastern Illinois and St. Thomas Saturday.
NIU defeated Wisconsin-Whitewater, 6-1, last Friday, handing the WarHawks their first loss of the season. Senior Diana Lukyanova and junior Angelica Ross each shut out their singles opponents 6-0, 6-0 in the win while freshman Sydney Paradise earned her second singles victory.